How to Find Affordable Health Insurance


Affordable health insurance - this looks like an oxymoron these days, i.e. the words don't belong to each other. Monthly premiums in health insurance have become one of the biggest single expenses in our lives - even beating mortgage payments. If you have any chronic health problems, diabetes for example, or if your family history has cancer somewhere, your monthly cost could be more than your car and house repayment combined.

Trying to find a health insurance policy you can afford can be an eye-opener. If you are used to having a company health insurance policy through your place of work - especially if you are a state or federal employee - and you now have to buy your own, you may find it difficult to afford the level of cover you have been used to and have to reduce to a basic health insurance policy, just sufficient to allow you to travel.

However, if you know where to look you should be able to avoid this, because affordable travel insurance is available.

When you are seeking affordable health insurance, you should be looking for the lowest annual premium that will fit your budget. But, more importantly, you should look for a company that has a good record of paying without quibbling over every detail of your claim. In the same way as there is a car for any budget, there is also affordable health insurance. You may not be able to afford a "Ferrari" policy - but you probably don't need all the frills anyway.

The easiest way to find affordable health insurance is on the internet. It is also the best since not only can you compare the available policies, their prices and what they have to offer, but you can also usually finde review sites which compare them for you. Here are five reasons why the intyernet is best:

  • There is no need for an agent to help you submit the claims. The provider does it for you. You usually save money because the health insurance company has no agent's commission to pay. This could mean an 8% to 12% savings to you.
  • The top health insurance companies all advertise on the internet. Most local agents can quote only from the few companies they represent. They may not be able to offer you what is best financially, or for your health, but only what they have available to offer.
  • Health insurance companies must be extremely competitive because due to the ease with which they can be compared to their competitors on the internet. Without using ther internet you would have had to physically visit several different agents to carry out a similar comparison. Most people don't have the time or inclination to do that.
  • You can change your coverage, payment options and other details with just a few clicks, rather than having to receive, complete, then post out the paperwork required with an agent (and if you find that there has been a mistake made, you have even more delay).
  • If you charge the premiums to a credit card you won't forget a payment and have the policy cancelled, and you will also have the security the credit card company gives you. It also allows you another 30 days before you actually have to pay. In addition you may get a discount for auto-payment. Many companies prefer this.
The key to finding affordable health insurance, however, is realizing that the reason for having it is to protect you from major financial loss, not from costs for minor ailments such as cuts or toothache. These small expenses may be a pain to pay, but they generally will not normally ruin you in the same way that a heart operation or major road accident might. It's these type of financial disasters that health insurance was originally designed to protect you from.

Also, keep this in mind. Health insurance, as with any insurance, is a gamble. You gamble that you will get out more than you pay in (owever, in saying this, you also don't want to collect the payment since you don't want to have a major illness or accident!). Your health insurance company takes the gample that they pay less than receive. The odds are with them for two reasons. They know the average risk in advance from all the historicla data they have of millions upon millions of policies. Also, they set the rules and they set the prices. These are designed to increase their profits, not reduce your payments. The higher you set your excess, the more risk you take but the less you pay. This is not a bad thing because if you get it right, you will be the winner in the long run.

Yup, finding affordable health insurance is much easier than most people think, especially if they use the internet.

Taking more of the risk with higher excess (deductibles), spending time comparing companies on the internet and designing your coverage to your needs (such as maternity) makes it completely possible to find affordable health insurance to suit your personal needs.










 

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